Rohan Pariyar’s Renaissance-inspired Kolkata showcase brings the women of Medici dynasty to life

The 16-foot Angel of Victory atop Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial, a upwind vane and lightning arrester, turns with the mightiness of the breeze. But connected November 17, she seemed to swivel with intention. As if summoning the winds of Renaissance Florence, the angel presided implicit an evening wherever Italian art, music, and creation drifted seamlessly into modern Indian aesthetics successful the Eastern Quadrangle of the Victoria Memorial Hall successful Kolkata.

In collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the evening brought to the fore decorator Rohan Pariyar’s interpretations of 15th and 16th-Century aesthetics from the Italian Renaissance, with a peculiar motion to the couture worn by the women of Florence’s influential Medici family. Titled “I Medici”, the 45-minute showcase presented 35 ensembles, each crafted successful Rohan’s Kolkata atelier and meticulously embroidered with implicit 2,000 hours of zardozi and cutdana enactment by a plan squad from the city.

Rohan explains, “The 35 handcrafted ensembles wage homage to the influential women of the Medici dynasty — Lucrezia, Contessina, Clarice, Caterina, Bianca, Maria and others. The garments hint a woman’s life: from matrimony and aboriginal adulthood to aged age, and adjacent to the rituals of death. Botticelli and Da Vinci’s paintings person besides inspired maine deeply. ”

Directed by Rohan himself, and Kuntanil Das, choreographed by Pinky Kenworthy and Sudarshan Chakraborty, and styled by Abhijit Chanda, the show utilized the Quadrangle’s archways and colonnades arsenic its superior set. Members of the Calcutta School of Music’s drawstring orchestra played compositions by iconic Italian composers Arcangelo Corelli, Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi. As the euphony wafted done the air, Sapphire Dance Company’s show created a dialog betwixt dependable and structure.

But the evening yet belonged to its setting. Victoria Memorial’s Indo-Saracenic architecture, its soaring dome, chhatris, arches, agelong colonnades, intricate jali work, Italian statues and Gothic-inspired porticos were emblematic of the night’s intent: a seamless blend of Indian and European aesthetics — Italian successful particular. The staging allowed the monument to clasp the narrative, with the covering giving textural accents.

After the performance, guests were ushered into Burdwan Palace successful Alipore for a Renaissance-themed reception curated by Taj Bengal successful relation with Gormei, a culinary curation level known for creating gastronomic experiences by collaborating with chefs and restaurants. The paper drew from Bartolomeo Scappi’s L’Opera (1570), recognised arsenic the archetypal illustrated cookbook from the Renaissance era.  

Under the yellowish lights of Belgian chandeliers and framed by the palace’s gangly French windows, Rohan’s creations stood connected show similar artefacts from the past.

A manner photograph accumulation by ANSA, Italy’s nationalist quality bureau lined the rooms, and unrecorded Italian euphony filled the corners.

Guests moved done unrecorded counters wherever chefs prepared blistery plates of gnocchi and handmade pasta. Glasses of achromatic and reddish vino from the barroom were paired with saccharine marzipan morsels, chickenhearted cacciatore, rosemary prawns, pumpkin and spinach tarts, saffron parmesan arrancini and herb-crusted fish. Dessert was a dispersed of Gelo d’Arancia—a brushed orangish pudding and the classical zuppa inglese — sponge barroom topped with creamy custard and Italian liquor. The paper carried guardant the Renaissance inspired flavours of the evening.

The night, however, was arsenic overmuch astir diplomacy arsenic it was astir design. Italian Consul General Riccardo Dalla Costa said that the lawsuit upheld Italy’s creator and taste renaissance, which has defined the shared bequest of India and Italy. 

Be it the compelling glow of brushed golden connected Victoria’s Makrana marbles oregon the ballroom betwixt the stucco columns of the Burdwan Palace, the designs shimmered successful the timeless afterglow of a civilisation’s imagination that had for 1 evening slipped into the dreamscape of the City of Joy.